A Critique of Sharaf al-Dīn Khurāsānī’s Persian Translation of Aristotle’s Metaphysics

This article offers a critique of Dr. Sharaf al-Dīn Khurāsānī’s Persian translation of Aristotle’s Metaphysics. The discussion is limited to Books Epsilon and Lambda, which together constitute about nine percent of the whole work. The translation appears to suffer from three major shortcomings: (1) A lack of consistency in the use of punctuation marks, which makes it difficult for the Persian reader to distinguish Aristotle’s own words from the translator’s interpolations. (2) Numerous typographical errors, which may not be immediately detectable by readers unfamiliar with the Greek original or European translations. While these mistakes do not always render sentences meaningless, they often produce unintended and misleading new meanings. This suggests that the final version of the translation was reviewed by someone insufficiently acquainted with the Metaphysics. (3) Internal textual evidence strongly indicates that Khurāsānī, before all European translators, engaged directly with the Greek text. While this could have been a great advantage, it ultimately became a weakness of the translation. Certain decisive errors appear which could have been avoided through consultation with authoritative European translations and more thorough study of key passages in the Metaphysics. In conclusion, the author expresses deep respect for Sharaf al-Dīn Khurāsānī’s monumental effort in translating Aristotle’s enduring masterpiece. The critique is not intended as a claim of superior knowledge of Greek, but as an invitation for contemporary translators to bring greater dynamism and precision to the rendering of epoch-making philosophical works.